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Project Tomcat - F-14s Side-By-Side in 1/48th Scale

Background

In the early days of the F-14 Tomcat, Monogram produced an outstanding kit in 1/48 of the F-14A that nicely captured the essence of the aircraft, those variable geometry wings. As I recall, this was the first kit produced that featured wing synchronization (move one wing, the other does too). What's more, this kit also extended the glove vanes when the wings moved to full sweep - another unique feature of the F-14A. The kits that followed usually provided a similar wing sweep synch feature. ESCI turned out a fair kit as did Fujimi.

The bar was significantly raised when Hasegawa entered the fight with their F-14A. This kit offered finely scribed surface details and was the first to offer the option to pose the aircraft with the nosegear in the kneeling position for catapult engagement as well as with the wing flaps and slats extended for take-off. The early Hasegawa kits were plagued with a design flaw in the intake trunks that made assembly a major problem (I remember giving up on my first Hasegawa Tomcat many years ago) but this flaw has long since been rectified. The Hasegawa kit settled into the best kit in any scale for several decades.

Academy produced their own Tomcat which filled a niche - a kit that was less complex (and cheaper) than the Hasegawa kit but offered nicely scribed details as a step up from the Monogram kit. This has been one of my favorite kits for many years as it is an easy build, not expensive, and provides an easy palette for all of those magnificent paint schemes available in the aftermarket decal world.

More recently, Hobbyboss released the Tomcat based upon the 1/32 designs previously released by Trumpeter. The kit is even more detailed than the Hasegawa kit and has more features/options. The jury is still out on buildability, but we'll see here soon enough.

F-14 Production Differences

Here is a quick matrix of differences between the different production models of the Tomcat.

F-14

A (Early)

A (Late)

B

D

Radar

AWG-9

AWG-9

AWG-9

APG-71

Cannon

20mm

20mm

20mm

20mm

Gun Door

Louvered

NACA

NACA

NACA

Engine

TF30

TF30

F110

F110

TARPS

No

Yes*

Yes*

Yes

Bombcat

No

Yes**

Yes**

Yes

* Selected F-14As and F-14Bs were modified to accommodate the TARPS pod whereas all F-14Ds were designed to support TARPS.

** While all Tomcats could carry unguided bombs, the F-14A and F-14B Bombcats had to be retrofitted with the MIL-STD 1553 data bus (and other mods) to integrate the LANTIRN pod. F-14Ds were equipped with the 1553 bus.

F-14 Quick Builds

Comparisons

Here is a look at the similarities and differences between the different manufacturers. This table will be revised with each build or quick build as needed.

Academy

Hasegawa

Hobbyboss

Italeri

Revell

Scale

1/48

1/48

1/48

1/48

1/48

MSRP (USD)

$38.95

$76.95

$99.95

$37.95

$27.95

Street Price (USD)

$28.95

$61.95

$79.95

$28.95

$22.95

Source

Academy

Hasegawa

Trumpeter

ESCI

Monogram

Versions

A (Early)
A (Bombcat)

A (Early)
A (Late)
A (Bombcat)
B
B (Bombcat)
D

A (Early)
B
D

A (Early)

A (Early)
B
D

Detail

Scribed (Sharp)

Scribed (Sharp)

Scribed (Sharp)

Scribed (Soft)

Raised

Fit Issues

None

None
*

None

None

None

Photo-Etched Parts

No

No

Yes

No

No

Flaps/Slats

Neutral

Positionable

Positionable

Neutral

Neutral

Wing Sweep

Movable

Positionable

Movable **

Movable

Movable

Nosegear

Normal

Normal and Kneel

Normal and Kneel

Normal

Normal

* Early Hasegawa Tomcats had a design flaw in their intake trunks that made the model very difficult to build. This has been fixed in later releases.

** The Hobbyboss wings will sweep, but if you pose the flaps and slats down, this is not a good combination.

Pros and Cons

Coming Soon

Summary

The Tomcat modeler has a nice selection of kits in 1/48 scale. Some are quite detailed though you'll pay a premium for all of those extra parts. The less expensive kits also build up into nice models. The comparison above will help you decide whether you need a more expensive kit so you can pose the aircraft with the flaps and slats extended or whether a given kit can render a Bombcat out of the box. Whatever your needs, there is a Tomcat here for you.